


The Death of Albus Dumbledore

by JacksonX



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 08:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10872891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacksonX/pseuds/JacksonX
Summary: One of the greatest wizards of all time was killed at the hands of You-Know-Who in a siege on Hogwarts. This offers a brief glimpse into the impact his death had around the wizarding world.





	The Death of Albus Dumbledore

Celestina Warbeck.

The final chord resonated through the chilly evening air. Celestina reached for a towel to mop the glistening sweat off her brow. From the darkness of the forest next to the stage, the voice of Salminius, her manager, carried through the air. "Tina. Tina, we need to end the concert. Albus Dumbledore is dead. Killed by You-Know-Who. We need to send everyone home. Now."

Celestina felt like glass was shattering in her stomach, like the world was dropping away from under feet and she was being doused with icewater. Her eyes stung as she fought back the tears that threatened to stream down her ebony cheeks. Albus Dumbledore. Dead? She never thought he would leave Hogwarts, let alone die. Albus was, in her mind, almost like a part of the school itself, as much a permanent fixture as any of the gargoyles, or towers, or classrooms. As she struggled to process what Sal had said, flashes of her times back in school rushed into her mind. Running to Dumbledore after her first transfiguration class with him, crying because she was afraid she would never be able to perform a simple spell. Albus had been warm and paternal, offering Celestina fizzing whizbees and words of encouragement. He spend the rest of the afternoon with her, talking about her passion for music and acting, and working on transfiguration. In fact, he had shown Celestina a way to treat magic almost as if it were music, thinking about each flick of the wand and each spell as notes and rhythms. She owed him her success. In her fourth year, Dumbledore had graciously offered to sponsor the theater club that Celestina's mom kept pressuring the school to start. He had only one condition, that the first play they put on was "A Mid Summer Night's Dream," knowing that the magic in the play was what initially drew Celestina to theater and the arts in the first place. After she had graduated and begun her career, Albus had invited her back multiple times just to chat in his office as headmaster. During the first wizarding war, when You-Know-Who was targeting muggle borns and half-bloods, Dumbledore had personally come to visit her. She could clearly remember sitting by the fire in her penthouse apartment in Vienna, speaking in hushed tones about what was going to happen to Britain and the Continent. Wen he mentioned the Order of the Phoenix, Celestina had jumped at the opportunity to join, to help fight. Dumbledore had refused her offer, insisting instead that she continue making music, and spreading joy. "If there is no art, no music, no light left in this world, then we have lost, regardless of whether we win the war" he had said, grasping her hands. 

The memories threatened to overwhelm Celestina, but Sal brought her back "Tina. Celestina, send these people home to their families. Give them a fighting chance to escape." With those words, the memories flickered out of her mind, her resolve gripped her heart. Tears no longer threatened to force themselves out of her eyes. She knew what she had to do. She turned, passing her Banshees and walked to the front of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you all for coming out to tonight. I love each and every one of you, without you, I could not be here. But, there is one other person to whom I owe my success, Albus Dumbledore." At this, many in the audience cheered. I know many of you feel the same about Albus as I do. So you all have the right to know. I was just informed that Albus Dumbledore was murdered this evening by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters." An eerie hush washed over the crowd, like a silencing blanket had enveloped everyone in the wooden glen. Even the forest animals stopped making noise. "Before you all leave and return to your families, or retrieve your children from Hogwarts, or flee from Britain knowing that we are about to plunge back into the darkness of war, I want to honor Albus with a song. I want to sing you a song that you can carry with you throughout the coming days of darkness, as a small light of hope and love you can keep within you. If you choose to leave now, or during the song, I will not be hurt, I will understand. So now, if you'll raise you'll raise your wands, my final song of the evening."

Celestina looked out into the audience as thousands of pinpoints of brilliant white light appeared. Suddenly, she could see the faces of the witches and wizards that came to see her. They had taken portkeys, apparated, and flown brooms from all over just to see her. Now, they sat in a quiet wooden glen, in conjured wooden seats arranged like an amphitheater, some silently crying, most visibly afraid, but they all held their wands. Together, they lit the night and surrounding forest as brightly as a mid day sun, but the with the color of full moon light. Since Celestina had not prepared for this, had not warned her banshees or her band, she knew she would be singing alone, a capella. That felt right. She reached back to the first song she sang with the Hogwarts choir, letting the words and notes fill her head before taking a deep breath and beginning.

"Carry my soul, into the night" her warm rich voice filled the forest.  
"May the stars guide my way" the audience was still, not a single person moved to leave.  
"I glory in the sight as darkness takes the day" The haunting first verse seemed to resonate forever in the glen, the light of the wands beaming stronger. The next verse was in Latin, a weak point for Celestina. She hadn't really learned the words the first time around, her secret shame. And now, over fifty years later, they certainly would not come, so she ad libbed, thinking of the words Albus had said to her in Vienna.

"I am too light for the darkness" Her tone changed to a Gregorian, almost military stomp. The drummer behind her picked up on the beat and lent his steady bang to the song.  
"Too light for the night" The audience began to stand, moved to their feet by the music.  
"I fear not death, and I shall fight" The wand light began to shift color from pure white to a crimson red.  
"With art and music as my guide" The sound swelled. Celestina could feel the drums rattling her ribs as her heat beat  
"I fight the shadows from all sides" The music crescendoed and rang through the air, as Celestina prepared for the final verse of the original song. The words had always stuck with her, and she had found herself singing them whenever she or her son were scared.

"Sing a song, a song of life" The banshees joined in, lending their harmonies in a brilliant counterpoint to Celestina. The drums continued to beat the military pace despite the tempered calm of the Celestina's verse.  
"Made without regret" The wand light returned to white, and softened.  
"Tell the ones, the ones I love" The drums began to fade out, the wandlight intensified to a blindingly brilliant white light.  
"I never will forget" The light was so intense Celestina had to close her eyes, she knew her audience did too. The banshees stopped singing, and the drums faded out entirely, leaving Celestina's voice alone in the night for the final line of the song.  
"I never will forget" As the final note resonated into silence, the light from the wands faded entirely. There was a brief moment of absolute silence, stillness, and darkness before panic set it. The popping of people disapparating filled the night air. Sobs could be heard. People rushed to their brooms or portkeys. Celestina stood on the stage watching her audience flee into the darkness of the night and of the ensuing war. "Goodbye, Albus. Thank you."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments, criticisms, and feedback are always welcome.


End file.
